Tag Archives: Pantry

You have all seen pictures of my pantry. When we built our house we designed the pantry space in an unheated corner of our basement. We then finished it by putting in shelves and an airtight door. The pantry never gets warmer than about 55 degrees in the heat of the summer and the rest of the year stays quite cold. I am really going to miss having such a wonderful pantry. However, since it is just now my husband and I, when we do sell our home and move we can plan to have a much smaller pantry!

If money weren’t an issue of course we could just have the pantry packed up and moved as is! However, does it really make sense to move everything across country? Of course not! Instead we will take some steps to minimize what we will actually be moving.

Now we haven’t sold our house yet or even had one offer but we are eating from the pantry and trying to use up as much as we can. When the day comes that we have an offer and have an actual closing date we will be doing our best to avoid the grocery store and instead use up everything we can from the pantry and our kitchen cupboards. I imagine those meals might get rather interesting! We can budget grocery costs into our moving budget so we can do some restocking once we move into our new home.I mentioned two weeks ago that I was focusing on de-cluttering. This applies to the party as well! I am sorting through all the home canned goods and canned goods and checking for expiration dates. If there are items we haven’t used in a while chances are we won’t be using them in the near future. I have a box for expired items and another box for items to donate to the local food shelf.

Some of the pantry items that I have for longer-term storage such as wheat berries will probably be given away. The cost of our move will be based on the weight plus the distance we are moving. Since we are planning to move from the east coast to the west coast it will be an expensive move and we need to eliminate as much weight as possible.

Normally I would be preserving the harvest from our garden. This year will be a different year for me as there is no point in stocking jars of canned goods and then having to move them. Instead we will enjoy the fresh vegetables out of the garden, share some with our neighbors and hold a few yard sales to sell some of the many canning jars I have.

Moving doesn’t have to be a nightmare. With some planning and strategic eating we should be able to downsize our pantry, pack up what’s left and move across country where I will then start a new pantry!

Just before the gardening season starts I try to go through our pantry and freezers and use up various food items that are lingering from last years harvest. Both our pantry and our freezer are well stocked. I usually have all the ingredients on hand at any given time to create a meal on short notice.

It won’t be long before the gardening season will be in full swing and I will have fresh produce from the garden to enjoy.

Vegetables from the garden

To prepare for the harvest I want to make some room in both the pantry and the freezer! For the next 2-3 weeks I am going to challenge myself to use what we have on hand. I am only going to go to the grocery store to purchase items that are absolutely necessary! My budget for the grocery store will be $50.00 for the two weeks. During this time I will utilize food from the freezer and pantry. This will give me a chance to use of leftovers, pre-made dinners and make room in the pantry!

The first part of the challenge involves updating the inventory in my freezer. I was away when our ¼ cow wwas delivered and I’m thankful my husband packed it all away in the freezer for me but I like to know exactly where everything is and what I have on hand. So I emptied the freezer, updated my inventory and put everything back nice and neatly! Now I know what we need to work on eating up!

Newly organized freezer.

The challenge starts today and will run at least for two weeks! I will give you an update next week and share our menu plan as we go along. This is our meal plan for this week.

Monday: Teriyaki Chicken Thighs (two packages of chicken thighs from the freezer)Tuesday: Corn and Cheddar Cakes (corn from the freezer)Wednesday: Macaroni and Cheese (pasta from the pantry, cheese from the fridge)Thursday: Roast Turkey (we had a ½ turkey in the freezer left over from the turkeys our neighbors raised)Friday: Mexican Turkey Salad (using leftover turkey)Saturday: Bolognese Sauce (from the freezer)Sunday: Easter Sunday, we will be eating with friends.

Breakfast is easy, we usually eat the same thing; homemade granola, oatmeal or eggs from our chickens. Homemade waffles are another option, which my husband loves! Lunches will be leftovers, soup or sandwiches from what is on hand using our homemade bread.

Homemade Bread

I actually look forward to challenging myself this way each year. I cook from scratch most of the time and I like having to create meals from what we have on hand. Anyone else have a similar challenge? Care to join me?

Both our pantry and our freezer are well stocked and I am very grateful for this. I usually have all the ingredients on hand at any given point to create a meal on short notice.

As the growing season approaches and we prepare for adding some local pork to our freezer I have decided to challenge myself once again! For the next two weeks I am only going to purchase items from the grocery store that are absolutely necessary; such as fresh fruit or vegetables. My budget for the two weeks will be $50. During these two weeks I will be utilizing food from our pantry and freezer. This will give me a chance to use up leftovers, unbury freezer items and clean out my pantry.

This challenge will start on Monday and run for at least two weeks! I will give you an update next week and share our menu plan as we go along. This is our menu plan for the first week:

Breakfast will be dry cereal we have on hand, homemade granola, oatmeal or eggs from our chickens. Homemade waffles or pancakes would be another option, which my husband would love! Lunches will be leftovers, soup or sandwiches from what is on hand using our homemade bread.

I cook from scratch most of the time and I’m looking forward to being challenged to use up what we have! After all the hard work of preserving our harvest now I want to make sure we are using it up! Next Thursday I will give you an update as to how we are doing! Care to join me?